


Words Cannot Extinguish It

by wildforce71



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Jungle Fury
Genre: Darkness, Gen, Power Quest, Ranger Team Reunion, Someone Actually Dies, The Power Heals, Villain wishes happy birthday/anniversary, read at your own risk, the power cannot heal all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-08
Updated: 2013-07-14
Packaged: 2017-12-18 02:56:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/874850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildforce71/pseuds/wildforce71
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Casey wasn't alone when he went to Dai Shi's temple. On such a tiny thing, the fate of the Jungle Fury team rests.</p><p>Dark and icky, people. Be warned.</p><p>Written for my Pr Trope Bingo card.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Power Cannot Heal All

He waits until the boy is asleep.

He often does; it's more fun, that way, when the boy wakes and realises he's not alone any more. He passes the time training, and visiting the remains of the team, and lounging in the temple, carefully out of Dai Shi's direct line of sight. His stock is high enough to allow him to keep the boy and the team, but not high enough to protect him from Dai Shi's increasingly common rages.

Camille scowls when she sees him, but she doesn't threaten him. Dai Shi doesn't protect her anymore, and she's too smart to risk angering anyone without need.

He finally heads back to the room. The boy is sleeping, curled tight and defensive on the bed, guarding himself even in sleep. He sits patiently on the side of the bed, waiting.

It doesn't take long. The boy is accustomed to his presence, knows that sleeping when he's in the room is dangerous, and he wakes within a couple of minutes, jerking off the other side of the bed. He grins, waiting while the boy drags himself back up to sit.

"Sleep well?" he asks genially.

"As well as ever," the boy answers. His eyes are cast down; it took him time to learn that one, but the lessons written on his teammate's skin took eventually.

He smiles. If the boy got ten minutes sleep, that's as much as he got. "Are you hungry?"

"No."

He waits, eyebrow up, and gets a reluctant "Thank you."

"Better." He lets an edge into his voice and the boy shivers. Throwing himself off the bed, the boy retreats as far as he can, to the corner away from the door.

"Why do you do this?"

He rolls his eyes, flowing to his feet and turning to the pitcher of water. The boy never touches it; he learnt that lesson, too, faster than the other. "How many times will we have this conversation?"

"Until I understand." The boy watches him. "You say this is to protect us."

"Yes."

"Then why..." He gestures wordlessly around the room. "All this?" he finishes helplessly.

He crosses the room, crowding the boy against the wall. "Because while you're here, Dai Shi forgets you," he says softly. "Leave this room, run through the corridors searching for your team, and Camille will find you. And she'll buy her way back into his favour with your body."

"Let me go to them," the boy whispers. This close, he has trouble keeping his eyes down. "If Camille hasn't found them, she won't."

"She has found them." He smiles gently. "Do you think Dai Shi cares about them? It's you he hates. You he wants. They can sit down there forever for all Dai Shi cares, but one whiff of you..."

"What does Dai Shi care about me?" The boy's uncomfortable, but he won't pull away. That lesson was the easiest learnt.

"Something left over from Jarrod, I suppose," he says carelessly. "Unless you can think of something else." The boy shakes his head quickly, and he turns away finally, going back to the pitcher and pouring two glasses.

The boy is watching him when he turns. "Sit," he orders, and the boy obeys, carefully taking the glass when it's offered. He's amused when the boy downs it in one, too wary of it being taken away at the last moment to take risks.

"If it's a safety thing," the boy says slowly, and he rolls his eyes; they've had this discussion many times before, too, "Then why..." He gestures at the room again.

"Why..." he echoes, deliberately mocking.

"This," the boy says, frustrated. "This isn't you, you know it isn't..."

"It's me now."

"It's the rinzin power that's done this to you. We can help you, you know that."

He shrugs easily. "The problem with that is I don't want your help. I'm perfectly happy."

"And Fran?"

He puts down his glass, leaves the room, and visits the team in the dungeons. When he returns to the room the boy is sitting on the edge of the bed, knuckles white where he's holding on, eyes riveted to the screen.

He stops beside the bed, lifting the boy's chin until their eyes meet. "Lesson learned?" The boy's eyes flick down and back up, as close as he can come to a nod right now. "Good." He turns away, going to wash his hands. The boy rubs at the smear on his chin, trembling.

He's not stupid. It's anger, not fear. But he'll take it.

"You wanted to know why this?" He throws his towel to one side. "I do this because it's fun, Casey."

The boy shudders. He hasn't heard his name in a long time. "RJ..."

"Sssh."

RJ fingers the bracelet on his wrist, smiling. The boy's been waiting, he knows; no Ranger has ever stayed evil, the Power actively working against it. He's been holding on to the hope that maybe that will happen here again, that RJ will return to the side of good, release his widely separated hostages and overthrow Dai Shi, save them all.

Well. He might overthrow Dai Shi yet. But he doesn't think the boy will like it if he does. The Power can't heal everything.

"Bed time," he orders, and the boy obeys, curling in on himself and lying rigid as RJ throws himself across the bed. Propping himself up on one elbow, he whispers, "If I stay in Dai Shi's favour, I can protect you from him. All of you, but especially you. Do you believe me?" He strokes the boy's hair back, ignoring the flinch at his every move.

The boy swallows hard. "I believe you," he whispers, and RJ hears him break, and he smiles.


	2. Villan Wishes Happy Birthday/Anniversary

Camille smiles as she walks the corridors of the temple.

The wolf is growing complacent, secure in his supposed position, assuming himself indispensable because of the twisted remnant of Power he carries. He thinks Dai Shi will protect him for it, to keep it from falling back into the Rangers' hands.

Camille's smile sours. No one knows better than she that no one is indispensable here.

But the wolf's increasing self-assurance makes things easy for Camille. His room was once more heavily warded than any in the temple. Now it's child's play for Camille to dismantle protections only ever meant to keep out Rin Shi - and to keep in one unhappy tiger.

Declawed tiger, she thinks, eyeing the boy. He looks up listlessly at her entrance; there's a flicker of something that might be fear, but he mostly seems resigned.

"Camille. What are you doing here?"

"Some reason I shouldn't be here?" She wanders around the room, touching things, enough that the wolf will know she was here. She was never planning to hide this visit anyway, and anything extra to throw him off balance will help.

"This is..." He swallows what he was about to say, and she allows herself a smile, wondering how long it took him to learn that one. "My master's room," he finishes, and her smile widens. Close to a year, the tiger used that title for the wolf, but it has a new meaning now and it chokes him every time he utters it.

And the wolf makes sure that's often.

"Everywhere in this temple is open to me."

"Is it."

It's perfectly flat, but she stares at him anyway. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"No meaning." He dips his head, looks away, every inch the subservient, and she doesn't trust it as far as she could throw him.

"Tell me what you've heard," she orders, and watches him consider whether to obey or not. The wolf acknowledges Dai Shi and no one else, and the tiger hasn't left this room since he entered it. She guesses that the chain of command in Dai Shi's forces is not at the top of his list of lessons, especially when it seems to change daily as generals fall in and out of favour.

"Only that you're out of favour," he says finally, keeping his eyes down. "That Dai Shi favours no one, now."

That _wolf_! Spilling court secrets to his catamite as though they were nothing!

"You've been misinformed," she tells him icily.

"My apologies," he murmurs, and his eyes are still down, and she suddenly realises that this tiger is not as tame as everyone thinks he is. She smiles, looking forward to the day when everyone learns it.

For now, though, keeping this knowledge to herself can only benefit her. "Here's an idea," she says as cheerfully as she can. The tiger looks wary, and she doesn't blame him. If he weren't sequestered here, he'd be constantly surrounded by people trying to curry favour with his master by helping him - or harming his master through him. The tiger's not stupid.

She drops the cheery approach. "What say we keep this little visit between us?"

"My master will know you were here," he reminds her. "I can't lie to him, not for you or for anyone."

True. She considers for a moment; she's decided that it can't do any harm, as the wolf will hardly know what she's guessed, when the tiger offers, "He'll be angry."

"Oh? Is his precious room so important?" Camille's spent centuries living on a wall; privacy is nice, but not important, and she owns nothing.

"No. He thinks you'll use me to buy favour with Dai Shi."

Camille stares at him. "Dai Shi knows where you are. He doesn't need someone to give you to him. If he wants you, he'll take you."

The tiger's clearly confused, until he blinks and it's gone. "I suppose if you aren't out of favour, you don't need me anyway."

The insolent _cub_!

Because she can, Camille snaps "Down" and he drops to his knees where he's standing. She lets him stay there as she wanders around the room, leaving her scent in a few more places.

When he speaks it's so quiet she almost doesn't hear him. "My master is stronger than yours."

She pauses in her efforts to leave her scent on every part of the bed, watching him. He hasn't moved, but she has to suppress a shudder.

"Once, he was," she agrees, sitting up. It isn't a secret; they were both there when the wolf defeated Dai Shi, and Camille endured his anger for days after. "When the human Jarrod was there dragging my master down."

She catches the brief flicker as he looks at her, apparently surprised. "Oh. You haven't heard? Dai Shi expelled Jarrod's spirit from the body. There is nothing left of him now. Only Dai Shi."

The tiger hangs his head. He looks very small, suddenly, and Camille frowns. "Why do you care? You and Jarrod hated each other."

"Jarrod was a jerk." He doesn't look up, and this time the flat tone sounds like truth. "But I barely knew him. I didn't hate him, I wanted to help him. And I don't think he hated me either. That was Dai Shi."

"Help him?" Camille repeats with a laugh. "There wasn't any _him_ to help, tiger. Not from the moment Dai Shi took him."

There's a long pause before he answers "If you say so," and she's suddenly furious. What does this human know about the master she's been faithful to for a hundred centuries?

She strikes him before she can stop herself. The blow sends him sprawling, but he gets back to his knees in silence, doesn't raise a hand to the blood.

"Explain," she hisses, barely holding herself back.

He lifts his head to meet her eyes, sitting back on his heels. "I saw you. In the woods, the day before I came to the temple."

If she were a mammal, Camille might have blushed. She remembers that day with an intensity that scares her; the arms and face and body she associates with Dai Shi, holding her gently and carefully and telling her he cared.

"That was Jarrod," the tiger continues. "You know it was. He was alive then."

"Jarrod is nothing," she hisses. " Who else have you told?"

"No one. I mean, I told Theo and Lily, but they didn't believe me."

"Perhaps because it's a lie," she suggests. "And the wolf?"

"He didn't believe me. But he followed me anyway."

And was captured by Dai Shi, corrupted and turned against his team. Jarrod's legacy, the destruction of the Power Rangers and the resurgence of the Beast Wars.

"Jarrod cares about you." He shakes his head. "Cared about you."

"Jarrod was nothing. Only a vessel for Dai Shi." She forces herself to believe it.

The tiger watches her for a moment before lowering his gaze again, confidences apparently over, and she bristles. "Be careful," she hisses. "Dai Shi speaks of taking a new body, and his choices are limited. Perhaps a word in his ear?" She smiles, deliberately wide.

The tiger doesn't react and she scowls, pushing to her feet and crossing to the door. "Oh." She smiles again, turning back to him. "I remember why I came. I wanted to wish you a happy birthday." He blinks and she smiles, knowing he has no sense of time, in a room with no windows and the wolf deliberately confusing him. "One year ago, a boy called Casey brought his Master to Dai Shi's temple. Casey died that day. Happy birthday."

The words linger as she closes the door firmly behind herself.


	3. The Power Heals

RJ's been having a good day. Separating the team was a good plan; without each other to lean on, each of them is growing more quiet, more withdrawn, more pliable. Today's visit is the first time Dom is silent the entire time, no smart comments, no pleading to the friend he'd once had. It's a victory, and RJ plans to celebrate it.

He nears his room, and pauses, frowning. This part of the temple is not well frequented, which is why he chose to house himself and the boy here, but someone's been past. Someone he dislikes.

He breathes deeply, trying to pin down the smell, and can't. It's tantalisingly familiar, but he can't put his finger on it. The rinzin power strengthens his wolf spirit, but that's not always a blessing; his animal spirit is animal, after all, and a human mind can't always interpret what the wolf senses.

He's about to brush it off when he opens his door.

" _Camille._ "

Her stink is all over the room, on everything. He snarls, circling the room, trying to figure out how to clear out the smell without throwing everything out. It's everywhere, on his knick knacks, on the cushions, on the bed. He expects it to be on the boy, as well, and it is there, but it's muted under the _brightcoppered_ smell of blood.

He drops to a hunker in front of the boy, barely aware that he's snarling. "What happened?" he demands.

The boy is curled in on himself, back turned to him. That in itself is enough for a punishment, if he wanted to push it. He reaches out, catches the boy's shoulder and physically turns him around.

Blood is still smeared over his chin, and his lip is split and bruised. RJ hisses in a breath, reaching for it; the boy lets him do it, eyes locked somewhere over his shoulder.

"What happened?" he asks again, touch almost gentle now.

"Camille."

That seems to be all the boy's going to say. RJ's grip tightens briefly. "Details."

"She came in. She was angry." He waves vaguely towards his own mouth.

"What did she want?"

"Something to use against you, I think. Me to look frightened."

He hesitates, and RJ snarls. "Say it!"

"Am I supposed to obey her?"

"You're supposed to do as you're told. Go sit on the bed."

He busies himself wiping the blood from the boy's chin. He finds himself being gentle, taking care not to hurt him further, and it surprises him. He doesn't normally care that much.

The boy accepts it, gaze still distant. "Tell me what she said," RJ says after a moment, turning away.

The boy's quiet for a moment. "She said that Jarrod is dead," he says finally. "That she's still firmly in Dai Shi's favour. That Dai Shi's looking for a new body, and she implied he'd take mine."

"He won't take yours," RJ says without thinking.

"She said that Dai Shi's known where I am the whole time."

RJ has to think about that one. There's nothing the boy can do about it now, of course, but it was one of the lies he hung everything on. "Not the whole time," he says finally. "But recently."

The boy nods, slowly, but he doesn't react apart from that. "If he wants me, he'll take me." RJ glares, and he adds, "That's what she said. She can't buy her way in with me; I'm already his, he just hasn't taken me yet."

"He's _not_ going to take you," RJ snarls. "Tidy that away," he adds, waving at the water and cloth, and the boy obeys.

When he's done RJ waves him over and inspects the injury. It's starting to heal already, the swelling receding slightly. "You'll heal."

"I always heal," the boy reminds him. "You took my morpher and blocked my tiger spirit, but I'm still a Ranger, the Power heals me."

RJ's grip on his chin tightens. "Careful," he says lightly. "You don't want anything extra to heal."

"I want to see the others."

It's a demand he makes every so often. RJ usually ignores it, or occasionally indulges him by turning on the screen during his visits to the dungeons. Today he frowns. "Why?"

"If Dai Shi wants a body, and you're going to keep him away from me, there's only the team. And I can't see him picking Lily or Theo if Dom's there. So I want to see him."

"Dai Shi doesn't want a new body," he says impatiently. "Jarrod's body is fine, and it's not like he's sharing it with anyone."

"Jarrod was your student," the boy says quietly. "A Pai Zhua student, one of the chosen three, and you're brushing off his death as though it was nothing."

RJ smiles wolfishly. "Good thing I haven't told you what Dai Shi did to the masters."

The boy looks faintly sick. "Master Finn?"

RJ cuffs him, sending him tumbling off the bed. "You don't call _anyone_ else master," he says warningly.

"Your father?" the boy says.

RJ cuffs him again, for thinking he can get away with that. "The masters are all gone. Dai Shi took care of them, one by one. Do you want the details? I can tell you. I watched every moment of it."

"Didn't join in?" he says hoarsely.

RJ just grins again, letting him draw his own conclusions. Whatever the boy imagines will probably be worse than the actual truth, after all.

He glances around the room, suddenly aware again of the chameleon stink. "What did she do, roll around in the bed?" he mutters. He's not really serious, but the boy freezes and he groans. "Really? What were you doing?"

"As I was told."

RJ scowls. "You obey Dai Shi, and me. No one else. Got it?"

"Got it," the boy agrees. He glances around the room. "What are you going to do?"

"Right now? I'm going to find a room that doesn't stink of chameleon. It's turning my stomach. See if you can't get this place cleared up."

It's an impossible job, and he knows it; for one thing, the boy's not allowed to touch the water or the door, and for another, the smell is ingrained in the room. It won't shift for a long time, not down here with no air flow. Impossible jobs keep the boy on his toes, though, and RJ always looks forward to seeing the results. Knowing his teammates' health rests on him keeping RJ happy always inspires the boy.

RJ closes the door, sealing the scent in, and wanders away to find an empty room. He can't accuse Camille, not openly; too much fuss might just drive Dai Shi to action, and almost everything in the temple now revolves around keeping him pacified.

Camille works in shadows, in dark corners, and in secrets. But RJ is a wolf. He thrives in darkness. He'll find a way to outsmart her.


	4. Ranger Team Reunion

Camille meanders through the dungeons, mostly hidden, though there is almost no one here to see her pass.

The corridors are rambling, the rooms far away from each other. Each turn deliberately looks the same as any other, each stretch of corridor almost identical. Those few who have ever escaped the cells have almost all been recaptured as they wandered helplessly in the labyrinth.

There are very few who can find their way here, but Camille moves with confidence. Dai Shi once trusted her with many things, including the care of his prisoners.

There are only three prisoners here now, held far from each other, and they are not Dai Shi's. Camille has made sure she still knows where they are, though. Knowledge is power and without Dai Shi's favour she needs all she can get.

She reaches her destination, carefully positioning herself to look in without being seen. The prisoner within is humming listlessly, staring vaguely at the ceiling.

Camille considers carefully. She can still walk away and nothing will change. If she goes ahead with her plan, she will be irrevocably committing herself to one path, one that she isn't sure she can walk to the end.

She takes one breath, fades into view, and opens the door.

The rhino looks up with the same resignation the tiger had shown her. "This is new," he drawls. "Did I win a prize?"

"Of sorts. On your feet."

He considers it. She doesn't bother hurrying him along, just stands and watches as he thinks.

"Where are we going?" he asks finally.

Camille smiles, knowing what he'll think. "It's a surprise."

She's almost surprised when he heaves himself to his feet. She tosses him a human energy bar, watching as he downs it in two bites and then has to cough harshly, steadying himself against the wall as he tries to swallow it without water.

"Don't you wash?" she asks with a grimace, waving him out of the cell.

"Our lord and master doesn't seem to think it's important," he mutters. Camille smiles without letting him see it. She's well aware that the rhino was friends with the wolf for longer than anyone. He fought to reach RJ for far longer than the other two.

She guides him through the corridors with touches and gestures, deliberately taking the long way, crossing their own path several times. She isn't sure how much attention he's paying anyway, but better to be safe. She makes absolutely sure they never come within earshot of the other two occupied cells. The rhino's silent and compliant, following her orders, but she doesn't take her eyes off him.

When they near the entrance she pauses, crowding him against the wall. "We may pass others now," she tells him. "Keep your eyes down and your mouth shut, and do not fall behind me. If you anger someone out there I won't do anything to protect you. Do you understand?"

"What are you doing, Camille?"

She tries to remember coming face to face with him before, and can't. Did he always have that look, as though he was looking straight into her soul? "Just stay close. If the wolf catches you out here, it won't be you who pays the price."

His mouth thins and he nods. They've all spent enough time watching their teammates be punished.

Camille turns, striding out into the corridor. She doesn't hide or falter; anyone they may pass would find that more curious than anything else. She doesn't look back, either, but she can sense the rhino staying just off her shoulder.

Luck is with them, and they pass no one but Rin Shi as they pass through the corridors. Camille orders him to wait as she works through the protections on the door; the wolf hasn't increased his security, and she frowns briefly before opening the door and waving the rhino in. 

The tiger glances up from...dusting? Maybe? He grins, wide and open, when he sees them. " _Dom_!"

He takes one step towards them and then pauses, uncertain. "What are you doing, Camille?"

"Does it matter?" She nudges the rhino and he stumbles forward a step or two. "The wolf's busy. You have a little time."

Neither moves, and she rolls her eyes. "Call this one a freebie. No charge." She leans against the door, watching them.

Seeing them together, the contrast is sharp. The wolf keeps his pet clean and, if not full, at least fed. Whatever injuries he incurs are treated. The rest of the team are not nearly so well off, and it's clear the rhino's noticed.

The two eye each other for a moment before the tiger surges forward, throwing his arms around the rhino. Camille watches curiously as they hold on to each other in silence. Such a human thing, that need for touch and comfort.

She forces away the memory of Jarrod's arms holding her gently.

They let go eventually and the tiger turns suspicious eyes on her. "What's going on?"

"Don't ask me questions, little tiger."

He smirks, unrepentant. "I only have to obey two people, and you're off the list."

The rhino takes his arm, turning him around. "Casey. Whatever he's trying to get you to do? Tell him no. Don't do anything he wants."

"Dom, every time I tell him no..."

"I know. I _know._ "

"He puts it on the screen and makes me watch." He laughs bitterly. "Sometimes there's quizzes afterwards, to make sure I paid attention."

"And as long as that's happening, we know you're fighting." He shakes the tiger's arm. "That's what we want. It's what we need, Casey."

"It's easy for you to say! You're not Red! You're not the leader, not the one who started all this."

There's a long pause. The rhino lets go.

"I'm not Red," he agrees quietly.

"You joined as a joke, because it looked like fun. I was supposed to keep you alive. That was my job."

"You didn't start this."

"I brought mmmm - RJ here!" He's pacing, angry.

"Dai Shi could have got him anywhere. It happened to be here."

"I thought I could save Jarrod," he says softly. "One guy stands up for what he believes in even though the whole town is against him..."

The rhino hesitates before saying slowly, "Not everyone can be saved, Casey."

"He can!"

"No. I don't think he can."

"Dom..."

"He's my friend, Casey. He's been my friend longer than he's been yours. I've loved him longer than you have."

"Dom, no. Anyone can be saved."

The rhino laughs softly, sadly. "Even if we could save him. Do you think he'd want us to? He'd never be able to look at us again, any of us. He wiped out the Academy, Case." The tiger looks away and he presses "It's not a kindness to save him, Casey."

"I don't know what you think I could do about it even if I agreed."

"You live here." There's a bitter tone to the words that interests Camille.

"I'd be down there with you in a heartbeat if he'd give me the choice. I tried _everything_ to get sent down there."

True; Camille had often come this way in the early days of his captivity, listening as he railed against his captors, fought and spit, attacked the wolf whenever he had the chance. The wolf took every blow, smiled patiently, and punished the rest of the team for it.

"He trusts you..."

"No, he doesn't. He - _enjoys_ me. That's all. Once I stop being fun, he'll hand me over to Dai Shi without a second thought."

The door opens and Camille fades into nothing, cursing her own inattention. The conversation was strangely fascinating and she's forgotten to keep her senses stretched into the corridor.

The wolf stands in the doorway, hands fisted. "What the hell are you doing?"

The rhino's gaze flits over Camille's hiding place, but for some reason he doesn't give her away. "...Escaping?" he suggests.

The wolf snorts. "You never were much good at anything." He gestures sharply for him to follow.

The rhino glances back at the tiger. "Remember what we want," he says strongly before leaving.

The door clicks closed and the tiger eyes it. "Can you open it from this side?"

"I told you," she snaps. "Everywhere in this temple is open to me."

"Yes, you told me," he agrees. "What game are you playing, Camille? I'm not going to be used by you as well."

This is her last chance to turn back.

"Jarrod broke free of Dai Shi once," she says quietly. "Only once. You were there. He brought me back to this temple and Dai Shi took him again; he was Jarrod for perhaps five minutes - he was kinder to me than Dai Shi has been in ten thousand years."

The tiger - Casey; she makes a note to use his name, to give him that much at least - studies her. "I can't kill him."

"Your team..."

"Dom can say anything he wants. I'm not going to kill RJ."

"He isn't RJ. You know that. He's not RJ any more than the creature in the throne room is Jarrod." She glances at the door. "I have to go. Don't do anything until I come back."

She leaves before he can retort, hurrying away. She's risking everything on the hope that Casey isn't as broken as he seems to be, that he can actually help her. Even if he can't, though, anything is better than her life now. Spending all her time appeasing Dai Shi, waiting for him to decide she's outlived her usefulness, is no life.

She heads back down to the dungeons, listening in as the wolf finishes beating the - beating Dom around. Dom's obviously learned to take it in silence; there's no sound but the wolf's taunts and threats.

Once he's gone she lets herself back in. Dom lifts his head, attempts to focus on her, and gives up, slumping back down. "I hate your surprises," he tells her.

She kneels next to him. "I can't help you," she says quietly. "He'll know."

Dom laughs. "Who's afraid of the big bad wolf? Why are you here?"

"Casey was right."

"Right...?"

She finds herself lowering her voice, even knowing there's no one around to hear her. "About Jarrod. Until the day Casey and the wolf came here, Jarrod still existed. Casey almost talked him around."

Dom frowns. "So what happened?"

"Dai Shi was stronger. He overcame Jarrod and poisoned the wolf. And a little later he destroyed Jarrod's spirit, ripped it to pieces while I watched."

"You had a thing for him," Dom says, sing song. "Here I thought you were the loyal little soldier. Dai Shi's favoured general. What happened to that?"

She doesn't bother to explain herself to him. "I can take a message to your friends for you."

"Tell me Casey will do it."

She looks away. "I don't know. The wolf's his teammate. He wants to keep him alive."

"RJ is killing us," Dom says deliberately.

"You are not Red. The most important thing to a Red Ranger is keeping the team alive, no matter what." She rises to her feet. "I'll work on it."

"Great." Dom rolls over, slowly and painfully. "I'll just lie here and bleed until you're ready to do something about it."

The twist of shame is unfamiliar and unwelcome, and she hurries back up to the main levels, hoping to leave it behind.

It doesn't work.


	5. Power Quest

RJ considers as he walks through the corridors back towards his room. He doesn't like the way things are going; the boy is skirting on being rude, and what on earth is going on with Dom? He wouldn't say anything, and RJ doesn't like it. He doesn't believe for a second that Dom escaped and made his way to RJ's room without help, but he can't think of anyone who'd risk moving against him so openly.

The room still sinks of chameleon. The boy is attempting to rub the scent out of some of the cushions or at least cover it with his own; a futile endeavour at best, but RJ has more important things on his mind right now.

"What did he mean?"

The boy looks up, eyes wide and innocent. "I'm sorry?"

"What did he mean," he repeats, enunciating each word. "Dom said, remember what we want. What did he mean?"

The boy shrugs, looking back at his work. "They want out of here. They want RJ back, they want the world how it was..."

"And they think you can help with that?"

"They think if I ask you, you'll let them go. Because I live up here, in _luxury_ , and they're down there. Apparently they think asking you just never occurred to me."

His tone is bitter, but his scent is afraid. RJ pretends to believe the lie. He knows his boy, and this isn't the time to push him.

"Come here," he purrs instead. The boy obeys, standing passive while he inspects the almost healed cut on his lip.

"Better," he says finally, stretching. "Get me something to drink."

Busywork will lower the boy's guard, make it easier to get what he wants from him. RJ mentally lines up various pointless jobs to keep him working for the next while.

"Thank you," he says politely when the boy comes back with his drink. "Now. Next."

 

"What are you doing, Camille?"

Camille turns, sweeping into a bow, using the moment to think. "Master?"

He circles her, studying her. Camille keeps her eyes down, focusing on holding herself still, betraying nothing to him. Luckily for her, Dai Shi knows little of human body language, and in this form she's close enough. He won't be able to read anything from her.

"You've been asking odd questions. Inspecting the defenses. Did you think I wouldn't find out? Nothing that happens here escapes me."

If that were true, she'd be dead already. They might be the wolf's prisoners, but only at Dai Shi's indulgence.

"I had no intention of hiding from you, master," she tells him. "I'm only doing my job."

"My defences are not your job."

Eyes down, eyes down, she reminds herself. Watching Dai Shi won't help, anyway; the mix of Jarrod's body language, lingering even now, and Dai Shi's renders him virtually unreadable.

"I only seek to help, master. The defences are slipping. The Rinshi don't have the brains to shore them up. I am trying to protect you, nothing more." 

He's still circling. "I hear whispers," he tells her. "Everything that happens in my temple comes to my ears. You're causing trouble for my wolf."

"I've not seen him, master, not for some days."

Her voice is remarkably steady, considering this is the first time she's ever knowingly and deliberately lied to her master.

"Indeed. Be careful, Camille. I need my wolf."

"I would never work against you, master."

"See that you don't. I tolerate no traitors, Camille, and there are no second chances here."

Camille has watched Dai Shi tear his followers apart because he's bored. She knows perfectly well that there are no second chances. Sometimes there are no first chances.

"I would never betray you."

She makes the vow to Jarrod, not to Dai Shi, but it satisfies him and he stalks off. Exhaling slowly and silently, she turns back to the door she's been examining. Off the beaten track, rarely used, and opening directly outside; she's not going to find a better one.

All she has to do is figure out how to open it.

She indulges herself as she works by imagining what life might be like when this is over. In her imagination Dai Shi is gone, the debt of Jarrod's death paid. The wolf is gone, dispatched by one or another of his team; she doesn't much care who takes care of him.

The world outside the temple is not as it once was. Perhaps the ex Rangers will allow her to stay with them, at least for a while, long enough to help them get settled. The Yellow Ranger once looked at her with something like friendship, or at least sympathy. She can live with sympathy.

Whatever happens, she will not allow them power over her. Camille has been powerless here for too long. She will never feel like that again. If the ex Rangers refuse her, she will turn away and make her own way in the world. She is a Phantom Beast general, she carries the Rin Zin power, and she will never grovel to anyone again.

The door clicks softly. She smiles. This is power.

She pulls the door closed and walks away.


	6. Wearing Each Other's Colors

(I'm experimenting with this one. Not sure I'll keep it, I might just jump straight to the end...)

 

Camille bides her time, avoiding the wolf and ignoring Casey and the others down in the dungeons. She attends on Dai Shi instead, pretending for a while that things are as they once were, that she is truly his second in command again.

When she thinks enough time has passed, when Dai Shi's suspicions have passed to someone else, she returns to the dungeons, to Dom's cell. He's mostly healed, now, still bruised in spots but moving much more easily.

"Can you remember the path if we walk it slowly?" she asks.

"Maybe. Where are we going?"

She holds up bottled water - some of the last in the temple's stockpiles, but since only the wolf and his prisoners use it, she's not too bothered - and more of the energy bars. "You and your team need to be in better shape before we do anything else. And I doubt they'll take anything from me."

They walk the path slowly, Dom murmuring the turns and straights under his breath. Camille takes them to Lily first; she's farther away, but more likely to believe them. She tells herself she's not hoping for that friendly look again. Lily has less than no reason to trust her any more.

She unlocks the door and steps aside to let Dom in, leaving the door open. Lily's sleeping, or pretending to; when Dom touches her shoulder she rolls over, slashing at him.

"Lil!" he yells, falling backward. Lily aborts the movement, staring at him, wide eyed. A heartbeat later she's in his arms, clinging to him.

Camille rolls her eyes. "Yes, it's touching. Let's hurry it along, Dom, we're running out of time."

Dom glares half heartedly, disentangling himself from Lily. "Lil..."

"What's going on? Since when does Camille call you Dom?"

"Since she's hovering around maybe being on our side, possibly. Eat, quick."

"I can't let you out today," Camille tells her. "It's not time yet. But that time is coming, and until then you can eat and drink."

"What are you wearing?" Dom adds, eyeing her. "Or - not wearing?"

Lily glances down at her sports top. "He took my shirt. Dom..."

"I saw Casey." He motions again for her to eat and she does, slowly, keeping her eyes on Dom. "RJ's keeping him up on the higher levels. Camille's sneaking us around to talk to each other, and she's going to help us escape, when the time comes."

"Why?" Lily asks bluntly.

Dom glances at Camille as though asking for permission. "Revenge."

"Revenge for what?"

"Dai Shi killed Jarrod."

Camille can't read the emotions that flick across Lily's face, but she thinks the last one might be understanding. "How long until it's time?"

"Not sure yet."

"I will try and bring more food," Camille offers. "The wolf is suspicious of me, but I'll do what I can."

"Here." Dom tugs off his sweatshirt, offering it to her. "Hide it whenever anyone comes."

"That won't be hard. No one ever comes in here anymore. He just chucks in the food through the door. Occasionally."

"She can't wear your clothes!" Camille hisses. Mammals, honestly.

"She's freezing," Dom protests.

"It smells like you," she says impatiently. "If the wolf comes down here, he'll know."

"So he'll think I got in here last time I got out."

"And left her locked in here?" Dom shrugs, and Camille rolls her eyes. "Give it here."

She finds a patch of muck in the corridor outside and rolls the sweatshirt around in it. It'll be damp for a while, but the rhino smell is obscured.

Lily is talking when she comes back into the cell, but she breaks off. "Can RJ really smell things like that?" she asks, accepting the sweatshirt and barely seeming to notice the damp, clinging mud.

"He isn't RJ. He's a wolf in human clothing. We need to move," she adds to Dom.

He nods, hugging Lily once more - smearing mud all over his t-shirt, but maybe it'll help hide his smell - and follows Camille out into the corridor again.

"Tell me the turns," she demands, distracting him while she locks the cell door again. He does well, hesitating a few times but missing only two turns, and she corrects him, making him repeat them back to her again and again until he gets it.

The visit with Theo is much the same, with more suspicion on Theo's part and more cajoling on Dom's; Camille locks them in together and goes back to the temple, finding a ratty sweatshirt in a pile of old belongings. It's yellow, and filthy, but better than the nothing Theo has now and at least it won't smell like anyone else.

By the time she gets back to them, Dom has apparently managed to talk Theo around. He even grunts something that might be a thank you when she hands over the jumper, though he makes a face at the colour.

Dom reels off the turns again, both from his cell to Lily's and Lily's to Theo's, and Camille nods in satisfaction. This might work after all.

"There's one other thing you should know," she tells him when they reach his cell again. "The wolf destroyed the Academy."

"I know," Dom interrupts. "He told us."

"He destroyed the _Academy_ ," she repeats, stressing the word and waiting for him to understand.

His eyes widen and he stares at her. "The Academy. The building? Not..."

"Most of the students survived and scattered. The Beast Wars continue, but Dai Shi has not won yet. Even without their Rangers, the humans fight back."

"Humans'll do that," Dom agrees. He looks brighter; telling him was a good idea. Knowing that some of his people are still alive and fighting back outside will give him something to aim at.

For now, though, she locks him back in and goes back above to fawn over Dai Shi, to keep herself in his good graces for as long as possible. None of this will matter if she is destroyed before they can escape, after all.


	7. Someone Actually Dies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Read the chapter title and be warned, people.

RJ is barely paying attention to what's going on around him, occupied with trying to figure out the boy's behaviour. He's been distracted, preoccupied, and he's started rebelling again. Nothing obvious; nothing likely to get the others punished, nothing that'll earn any more than a careless slap. But it's more than he's been doing for a while, and it makes RJ edgy.

The boy won't say what Dom was doing, either, and Dom has apparently been struck dumb; he hasn't made a sound since RJ caught him. Even threats to the other two, which usually make the boy back down, are ineffective; he isn't talking. RJ has eased back on the questions, let him think he's safe. The boy can't hide anything from him, not for long. He'll find out eventually.

"Wolf!"

He startles, looking towards the throne. Dai Shi rarely acknowledges him. This is unusual.

He steps towards the throne, sweeping into a bow. "My lord?"

"What have you to say for yourself?"

RJ thinks furiously, gaze sweeping the area. Clearly he missed something important.

There. Camille is lurking, almost behind a pillar, closer to the throne than usual and a hungry look on her face. "My lord, whatever Camille has said..."

"I don't want to hear about what she said!" Dai Shi snaps, cutting him off. "I want to hear what you have to say."

RJ curses silently, scrambling for an idea. Whatever he's missed must have been big.

Camille smirks.

 

Casey's pacing helplessly when the door creaks open and Dom peeks around it. "Come on," he hisses, waving Casey out.

"Is it time?" Casey asks, stepping warily towards the door. He hasn't left the room in more than a year; the thought of _outside_ briefly terrifies him before he shakes it off.

"Camille's occupying everyone for us, but we have to hurry." Dom waves him on impatiently.

Theo and Lily are in the corridor, wrapped around each other, holding each other up. Casey adds himself to the group, holding on tightly for a handful of heartbeats.

"Touching, but we really have to go," Dom hisses urgently. "Camille couldn't guarantee a time and if we're caught, she'll wash her hands of us."

"No she won't," Casey says easily, nudging Theo until he lets go of Lily and slinging her arm over his shoulder. Lily makes vague noises of protest, but she doesn't pull away, so he doesn't let go.

Dom catches Theo's arm, hurrying him down the corridor. "Come on, come on," he mutters.

"Dom, where are we going?" Casey asks.

"Shut up, I'm counting."

"Did RJ tell you he destroyed the Academy?" Lily asks. Casey grits his teeth, and she hurries on, "Camille says he just took out the building. The students got away. They're fighting back against Dai Shi. We just have to find them."

Dom hustles them into an alcove and they wait, breathless, as a squad of Rin Shi hurry by. Casey silently gives thanks that the Rin Shi never look around them, just keep going straight forward. They hurry on, Dom counting more loudly now.

There's a faint noise, barely audible, felt more than heard; a rumble, like cheering. Casey doesn't know what it is, but he doesn't like it, doesn't trust it. It's unsettling, putting him on edge. If the others feel it, they give no sign, just follow Dom as he hurries through corridors and around corners.

"Here," he says finally, letting go of Theo and hurrying forward to fiddle with a door. Casey waits, shifting from foot to foot; he's totally unsettled, now, can't stay still. Lily's shooting him looks, but she hasn't said anything, and the boys don't seem to have noticed yet.

Three things happen almost at once, so closely that Casey can't quite separate them out; Dom gets the door open, Lily collapses to one side as her knee gives out, and Casey's tiger spirit roars through him, staggering him. Everything is wrong, all the angles and perspectives, he can't breathe through the rush of sensory information, can't figure out what those annoying noises are. They stop when he snarls, and he concentrates on re-establishing himself as a person with an animal spirit, not a loose spirit.

"Casey," Lily says from somewhere close by, and just like that he's back. He draws in a ragged breath, opening eyes he hadn't realised he'd closed. Lily's still hanging onto his arm - it's that or fall over - but she's holding back the boys with the other hand, watching him. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. No," he corrects himself, as he realises what's happened. "Dom, c'mere."

Dom takes Lily's weight without question, eyeing him. "Casey..."

"Get them out," he orders. It should be Theo's job, but he hasn't spoken yet and Dom's clearly in better health. "I'll be behind you."

"Case..."

"I'll be behind you," he repeats. "Get them out of here, Dom. That's all that matters now."

Dom nods, ignoring Lily's protests; Theo still hasn't spoken up, and Casey wonders idly how broken he is. "We're going to wait for you," Dom says firmly.

"Wait for me outside the temple's borders." Once they pass the line the block on their animal spirits should lift. RJ took great pleasure in describing it to Casey, how the block was tied to the lines around the temple, how none of them would ever leave again.

Except for Casey's. His block was different; tied to RJ's life force. RJ had once harboured hopes that Casey would turn, and he didn't want a rival if Casey should escape afterwards.

But a block tied to life force can only be broken in one way.

Casey follows the noise. His spirit is with him, ranging out around him, helping him to avoid discovery. Once he's traced the noise to the throne room he climbs up a level and finds an entrance up there, one that won't be noticed.

There are two bodies crumpled on the floor at Dai Shi's feet. Casey allows himself a handful of heartbeats to mourn the first before he forces it away. He doesn't have time to grieve RJ right now.

Once he wouldn't have been able to compartmentalize like that. Just another way he's broken.

The other body is Camille.

Casey watches for a long moment, until he's sure she's breathing. He can guess what happened, closely enough; Camille fought RJ, maybe to buy them more time, maybe just because she wanted to and Dai Shi allowed it. She was quick enough and strong enough to take RJ down, but then she came face to face with Dai Shi, and maybe she wasn't strong enough or maybe she'd just hesitated, looking at Jarrod's body. Either way, she's defeated but not dead, and Casey can't leave her in Dai Shi's hands. He's clearly injured, tottering in a vague circle as he rants, bruised and bloody, limping heavily; Camille got her shots in before he took her down, and if she lives Dai Shi will punish her for it every day of her immortality.

He jumps from the balcony, lands in an easy crouch. Dai Shi spins, laughing insanely. "TIGER!"

"Dragon," Casey returns.

"Lion!"

"No, I don't think so." They're circling, watching each other; Casey backs up to Camille, kneeling to check her pulse briefly before rising again.

Dai Shi roars. Casey watches impassively. The spirit is insane; he can see it clearly, wonders how he even held power this long. "I am the mighty lion!"

"Jarrod was the lion. You're nothing. Just a parasite." He spreads his arms, grinning. "The mighty Dai Shi! Nothing more than a leech."

Dai Shi howls in rage, charging him.

Casey hasn't fought or practised in a year; RJ had some way of watching the room when he wasn't there, and he forbade Casey to practise at all. If he'd been in shape, the fight might have been easy. Dai Shi isn't planning his attacks at all, just rushing him, too furious and too far gone to plan anything. Casey fends him off relatively easily, hampered by the need to protect Camille. Dai Shi's followers line the walls of the room, watching in eerie silence.

After their first exchange, Casey knows he's going to win. If Dai Shi hadn't been injured, it might be different, but as it is he's too far gone. He hasn't even thought to target Camille, to force Casey further into defence; the only danger is his lack of aim. No doubt some of his followers are cursing themselves for not fighting back sooner, taking over here. If that were possible, though, Casey thinks RJ would have done it.

The final blow is almost anticlimactic; Dai Shi doesn't even seem to realise he's been hit, still howling promises of revenge that he'll never fulfill now, still yelling even as he disintegrates. At the last moment, when sudden awareness floods his eyes, Casey says clearly, "For Jarrod and RJ" and watches as Dai Shi, master of all that is bad, is vanquished forever.

Casey watches Dai Shi's followers for a moment to make sure they're not a danger. With Dai Shi's demise, the Rin Shi are gone, and the handful of monsters who are left don't seem quite sure what to do. Casey crouches to pick Camille up, manifesting his spirit to walk along beside them, and the creatures who are left give him a wide berth.

His spirit is all but prancing as he retraces his steps. Being blocked for so long seems to have left it more powerful, not less. Distantly, Casey thinks that might be an illusion, but as long as it doesn't fade until he's outside, he doesn't care.

Camille stirs and he glances down. "Be careful," he murmurs. "You're injured."

Her eyes flicker but don't open. "Dai Shi..."

"Gone."

She sighs deeply. "Then he's at peace."

Casey nods, carefully adjusting his grip as they reach the door. There's still a war raging outside; Dai Shi's generals and fighters are unlikely to stand down just because he's dead, though humanity might get a brief respite as they fight amongst themselves for the crown. Either way, there's a battle coming, and Casey intends to be part of it.

He nudges the door open and starts outside to join his team.


End file.
